We surprised even ourselves when we came home with two trays of goodies on our last visit to the plots. I gathered a few tomatoes from the lean to and have left the plants intact as they have quite a bit of fruit still green. I don’t suppose they will ripen but we will give them a chance. The last of the cucumber had shrivelled so those plants are ready to come down.

We brought home three cabbages, a Savoy and a Ballhead plus one red for pickling. One of the sprout plants had fallen over so we pulled it and harvested the sprouts. They were quite small but made a tasty meal. Brussel sprouts are a great source of vitamins A, C, and K. They contain iron, fibre, potassium, and B vitamins. They also contain folate, protein, and beta-carotene. Next I pulled four leeks which were ready to eat and a few sticks of Chard. The surprise find was a beautiful if small Romanesco. We are bringing the pumpkins home one at a time as they are heavy and they should make some tasty soup for us over the Winter with the left over flesh and seeds going to the chickens and ducks.

We spent a couple of hours at the plots this afternoon. The weather was warm and sunny and the ground was workable so we did a lot of weeding. Still back breaking work but easier than when the ground is dry or heavy with rain. Rob dug up a few rows of potatoes and we emptied three bags too so we came back with quite a haul. They seem ok as far as the Blight is concerned so lets hope they store ok. This evening I cooked some Charlotte and they were very good.

We cut another cucumber from the Carmen plant and though they are few and far between the quality of them is brilliant. We also cut one of the Butterhead lettuce. Pity the tomatoes are still not big or red enough to eat. The outdoor tomatoes seem to be getting the first signs of Blight with the young fruit turning black. Very sad. The runner beans were loaded and I picked a large box full as well as giving Frank and his wife quite a few as his were a bit late going in and are only just starting to produce. I pulled a few of the Rainbow carrots too. There seem to be plenty of snails, earwigs and wood lice having a go at everything, especially the brassicas and the white fly is starting to show itself again. We brought home a couple of cabbages and found one that was so nibbled we had to throw it on to the compost heap. The pumpkin plants are rampant and covered in yellow globes of varying sizes and are a reminder that Autumn will soon be here.

As for a lot of families this week has been special for us. Our Nephew Matthew started in his last year at Senior School, my Great Neice Lily started college, Rob’s Son Lee took his first driving test, Glenn got started on his degree course and our Grandaughter Libbie started at her new playschool. It’s all happening here.

Not so much has happened down at the plots, however. Rob has been working all hours and I have not been too well so what with the continuous rain I dread to think what will be waiting for us when we do get down there. I just know that there will be a multitude of beans to pick and thats if they haven’t spoiled already.

The wind was blowing a gale at the site today as we plodded over to the brassica cage for a second vegetable to go with our first picking of sprouts. Imagine our surprise when we spotted this beautiful pale green Romanesco. It is a truly lovely looking vegetable and living proof of the miracle of the mathematics of nature.

I ordered a DVD today for Rob’s Christmas present. It was ‘Grow Your Own’. I can’t wait to watch it.

While Rob put down three more slabs and spread a few more bags of horse manure on plot 18 I carried on with putting plot 8 to bed. I cut down the Dhalias, put some well rotted manure over the bed then covered it with straw anchored down with the netting from the top of the old brassica cage. Then I pulled up all the Nasturtiums from around the salad cage. Next I cut off the runner beans at the roots and cleared the poles collecting some more seeds as I went. Finally I cut down the Cosmos which were as tough as old boots. I am not sure whether they will grow again from the same roots or if I will need to start again from seed. I shall definitely grow them again next year as they gave a beautiful show of colour and attracted the bees. Rob emptied a couple of the dalek composters and put the resulting compost over the beds. He said it was “good stuff”. Both the greenhouse and the lean to are empty now and all the old plants in the composters.